FaceDeer

I'll do some more experimentation when I get home tonight. I do have a bunch of other mods installed as well, I'll make a clean stock-and-KAS copy of the game to try it in just in case my problem's coming from interaction with other plugins (I doubt Attachment Pack is the problem, all it does is modify the .cfg files of various parts to include the KAS module's attach and detach components). I did do the spaceport-and-back-again trick with the Kerbal in orbit around the Mun, it was necessary in order to get the option of attempting to attach things in the first place. I only did the back-and-forth thing once, though, I'll see if a second try clears up the orbital velocty problem.

The attachment pack is just where I first happened to notice the problem, I didn't have stock KAS detachable parts handy at the time to repro it. I just sent out a mission specifically to test that, though, and can confirm that it also happens for stock KAS detachable radial ports. Here's the complete repro steps: I launched a ship into low Kerbin orbit (nothing but stock parts and a KAS detachable radial port) and, in low Kerbin orbit, went on EVA. My Kerbal was able to detach the port and reattach it to the Mk 1 command pod correctly. I then sent the ship to orbit the Mun instead, and when my Kerbal went on EVA he was able to detach the port but not attach it to anything. I did the trick where you switch to the tracking center and then back to the EVAed Kerbal again to "reset" the KAS system (this is another known glitch the current version of KAS has in 0.21), and that allowed me to *attempt* to attach the port. But as with the other parts above, the surfaces I tried to attach them to registered as unattachable no matter how close I got to them. Then when I tried dropping the radial port in open space it lost its orbital velocity, just as above. So this is a general KAS problem, not specific to stuff that's extending the module's use to other parts. Now I need to launch a mission to rescue my test Kerbal. I didn't think to give his ship return capability, and we can't just end flights without consequence any more. Oh well, the price of doing science.

I've started running into a little problem using this mod with 0.21 and I'm wondering if anyone else has seen it. I was in orbit around the Mun and I needed to transfer a command seat from one ship to another so my EVAed Kerbal could ride it back down to base (I'm using the Attachment Pack mod, which extends KAS to allow certain other small parts to be removed and reattached) and I found that once I had the seat on my Kerbal's back I couldn't attach it to anything - thought every surface was out of range, showing only the yellow "ghost" of the part and not turning green regardless of how close I got. Then when I tried dropping the seat in open space, intending to pick it up again in the hopes of "resetting" whatever was going wrong, the dropped part was instantly at rest relative to the Mun's surface (and thus dropped out of orbit and was destroyed). As an experiment, I then went over to my Minmus-orbiting station and had a Kerbal go outside to rearrange some docking struts. I got the exact same behavior - every surface behaved as if it was out of range, and then when he tried dropping the docking strut anchor in open space it instantly came to a halt relative to the surface. Fortunately KAS still seems to work correctly for Kerbals who are down on my surface Munbase. It just seems to be those in orbit that can't attach things properly. Which is unfortunate, the attachment pack used to let me do wonderful things to my space stations and large interplanetary ships. Perhaps the mod is somehow treating things in orbit as if they're on the surface? That might account for both the out-of-range problem and the instant loss of orbital velocity problem.

If extra stability is needed I expect it would be possible to use two of these things in parallel to give a broader base. Connecting it up might be tricky given KSP's tree-structure limitation but docking ports, winches, and docking struts can help with that.

That fixed it, thanks! I now officially have no complaints and only praise for this update (well, this setting could use a menu button somewhere, but other than that )

I really hate to harp on the main menu thing, but I've installed 0.7.2 and I can't find the option to turn off the main menu grid display. The control in the map view looks the same as it did in 0.7.1 and the "show overlay" radio button doesn't seem to affect the main menu's display when turned off. GameData/Kethane/settings.cfg doesn't have any additional settings in it that I can see. What am I overlooking? PS, the reason I'm focused on this is because it's the only issue I've had with this new update. So that's a good thing?

That's not an easter egg. An easter egg is hidden, something you have to look for or pay close attention to spot. This is pretty much the opposite of hidden.

An excellent "companion mod" for this arm, I have found, is the Attachment Pack's docking strut. There's a ton of great stuff you can do with the attachment pack in general, but for my purposes I wanted to build a folding crane that I could send to another planet and use for hoisting very heavy objects. So what I did was I put docking strut connectors on the base of my crane and on the winch that was the "hand" of my crane, and then once I had the crane unfolded into the correct position I engaged the docking struts to lock everything very firmly in place. Just remember to disengage the docking struts later before moving any of the arm's joints or bad things will ensue. Here's an example of my testbed using a Dromoman arm and a KAS winch to lift a 25 ton weight completely off the ground in Kerbin gravity: The "hand" of this arm consists of a clamp-o-tron Jr., since the Attachment Pack allows Kerbals on EVA to attach those to ships in the field I figured that'd be a good basic interface. Currently attached is a winch with a clamp-o-tron Jr. base - as you can see, the weight of the rover it's hoisting has pulled the two CoTJrs apart somewhat. The arm is supported by three docking struts that I engaged once the arm was in position over the target rover, as well as a couple of struts I engaged to brace the shoulder and elbow joints (I suspect these aren't really necessary if there's enough struts bracing the "hand" directly). I also added a grapple hook winch on the belly of my test crane that I fired into the ground before I lifted the target, to keep from flipping over. The target weight is considerably heavier than the crane itself is. I should probably have more than just these three docking struts holding the "hand" up, 25 tons is causing some amount of jiggling and bending even with those. But without those docking struts this arm fails utterly.

If you add the following to the various light .cfg files: And have the Kerbal Attachment System installed, your Kerbals will be able to dismount an aviation light while on EVA, carry it to a different spot on the ship (or a different ship), and then remount it. I'm using this to retrofit my existing space stations with these things. Just did a quick test and it appears that action group assignments are maintained when you move a light around. Sadly, the lights don't work while they're being carried on a Kerbal's back. Guess Kerbal space suits don't provide enough electricity. I got this idea from the Attachment Pack.

Gravity-gradient methods can be greatly enhanced by using a long tether with a counterweight on the end to enhance tidal effects. A steeper gravitational gradient (as we see with these tiny high-density planets in KSP) also enhances tidal effects. I think we could afford to "fake" a lot of this stuff, though, since controlled rotation is generally pretty easy in KSP. Maybe some sort of stabilization component that you set to point in a particular direction along a gravitational gradient and then it uses ASAS-like torque control to keep things that way.